JOB 

The Hero Par Excellence 



m 

By J. HARRY DEEMS, 

(Member of the American Institute of Christian 
Philosophy of New York, and The 
Victoria Institute of London.) 



Price 30 cents 



The Norman, Bemington Company, 
baltimore, md. 




COPYRIGHT BY 

J. Harry Deems 

BALTIMORE, MD, 



§)C!,A605324 



DEDICATED 



TO 

THE SERVICE OF GOD 
AND TO 
THE MEMORY OF 

All of my loved ones — those who have 
passed beyond the evanescent changes of 
this variable life, and those who still tread 
with me the daily paths of militant ex- 
periences; also to all of my brethren and 
sisters in the glorious work of obedience 
to the loving Father, as well as to the sal- 
vation and edification of never dying souls, 
in Church, Sunday School and Community 
activities. 



3 



FOREWORD 



The simple grandeur and the grand simplicity of 
this noble Book having by the Spirit of God com- 
mended itself to my earnest perusal and diligent 
study, I have longed to incite in the minds of others 
who love the Word a desire for better acquaintance 
with and knowledge of these eloquently inspired and 
inspiring chapters of Job. 

This is neither a commentary upon nor an ex- 
haustive exposition of the ancient, helpful, inter- 
esting, wonderful and soul-exhilarating Book of Job ; 
but only suggestive remarks from a layman endeav- 
oring so to emphasize this most delightful book in 
the Word of God as to attract the earnest lay student 
of the Book of Books to the unexcelled beauty, the 
discovery of the depth of wisdom, the demonstration 
of well-founded faith, and the comforting assurance of 
the Divine Architect with which its sublime pages 
are filled. 

How many Christians have never perused its every 
page! How few who have ever studied its deep 
mysteries and glistening riches! How many who 
have never included this incomparable work in their 



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research ! Although it belongs irrevocably to the 
Sacred Lore to which the Son of God and Son of 
Man referred when He uttered those emphatically 
important words, "Search the Scriptures/' (John v, 
39) , how few revert to it as a necessary daily, soul- 
inspiring portion of the "All scripture given by 
inspiration of God/' ( Tim. iii, 4.) 

Desiring to render "honor to whom honor" is due, 
the Author would cheerfully acknowledge his in- 
debtedness to the following well known Exegetes 
for inspiring aid in the preparation of these sug- 
gestive remarks : Jos. Parker, D. D., John F. Genung, 

D. D., F. N. Pelonbet D. D., A. S. Barnes, D. D., 
George K. Noyes, John Eadie, D. D., LL. D., Wm. 
Smith, J. Drusius, Kichard Green Moulton, D. D., 

E. F. Palmer, D. D., C. I. Schofield, D. D., Homer 
V. Sprague, Ph. D. 

That these pages may enlist the cordial interest 
in, also the admiration, and the profound love and 
devoted study of many readers of the unexcelled and 
perhaps unequalled, yet so little known Book of 
Job, is the grateful and prayerful heart's desire of 

THE AUTHOR. 



5 



JOB 

THE HERO PAR EXCELLENCE. 

CHAPTER I. 
The Book of Job. 

Perhaps concerning no part of Scripture has there 
been a greater diversity of opinion amongst Biblical 
scholars than the Book of Job, and perhaps no book 
has been so little read and studied by the average 
child of God; yet without doubt it is a portion of 
that Scripture "given by inspiration of God, and is 
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, 
for instruction in righteousness, that the man of 
God may be thoroughly furnished unto all good 
works'' (2 Tim. iii, 16), and just as advisable for 
or binding upon the intelligent, ambitious Christian 
is the perusal of this book of profound lore and 
great antiquity as that of any part of God's Word, 
concerning which He who "hath brought life and 
immortality to light through the gospel" (2 Tim. 
i, 10), said: "Search the Scriptures" (John v, 39). 

Let us consider some of the points about which 
there have been and still are great differences of 



7 



opinion amongst men of the highest distinction in 
learning, and, although we may not hope for abso- 
lute certainty on every point, yet on some points 
we may be quite positive, and on others we may 
attain a high degree of probability. 

The following questions may be interesting for 
us to solve: 

I. Was Job a real or fictitious character? 

II. Where did Job live, or where was the land 
of Uz? 

III. When did Job live? 

IV. Who was the author of the Book of Job? 

V. What is the character and design of the 
Book of Job? 



8 



CHAPTER II. 



Was Job a Real Character f 

Was Job a real or fictitious character, that is, 
only a type or prophet's similitude? 
Some have doubted his real existence. 

(1) Because by these the Book of Job has been 
supposed to be an allegory, as allegories and par- 
ables are not uncommon in the Scriptures. 

(2) Because the statements about the possessions 
of Job, both before and after his trials, occur in 
round numbers, and generally include the sacred 
numbers seven and three; as seven thousand sheep, 
three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen 
and five hundred she-asses; seven sons and three 
friends, the latter coming and sitting with him 
seven days and seven nights without saying a word 
to condole with him, although they had come ex- 
pressly for that purpose; he had also three daugb 
ters before and after his trials, Chapters i and xlii. 

(3) Because of the style in which the book is 
written. It is of the highest order of poetry. The 
speeches are elaborate, skillfully argued, arranged 
with great care, sententious, demonstrating very 



9 



particular observation, and unlike what might be 
said extemporaneously or unpremeditatedly. Al- 
though the arguments of the various speakers have 
a poetic character, and might never have been 
uttered in the exact form in which we now have 
them, still this would not invalidate the historic 
truth of the facts narrated about the existence and 
trials of Job. It is doubtless true that he lived and 
suffered as narrated, that the discussions actually 
occurred, yet it is not improbable that afterwards 
they were wrought by Job himself or some other 
person into the poetic form in which we find them. 
Subsequent to his trials he lived one hundred and 
forty years, and when fully recovered to his former 
vigor, during the leisure which he enjoyed he may 
have thought it worth while to present a history of 
all the events mentioned in connection with his life 
and experiences in a more perfect form and a more 
poetic cast. But the difficulty may be removed by a 
supposition entirely in accord with the nature of 
the case and the character of the Book. It is, that 
a sufficient interval of time may have intervened 
between the speeches to have given ample oppor- 
tunity for carefully framed argument to meet the 
views which had been announced by the previous 
speaker. There is no proof that the whole argu- 
ment in any case took place at one sitting, the entire 



10 



Book bearing evidence of most careful deliberation. 
There is no seeming hurry. The speakers follow one 
another in order, and no matter how keen and sar- 
castic their invectives, they are patiently heard and 
then all is carefully considered in the reply. This 
indeed seems as if there might have been ample 
time to arrange the reply before it was uttered. No 
one can prove that Job, Eliphaz, Bildad. Zophar and 
Elihu were not able to compose the speeches at- 
tributed to them, nor that all the time necessary to 
compose them was not taken. 

(4) Because after Job's restoration to perfect 
health his effects were just doubled ; that is, his seven 
thousand sheep became fourteen thousand, his three 
thousand camels became six thousand, his five hun- 
dred yoke of oxen became one thousand, and his 
five hundred she-asses also became one thousand and 
again he had seven sons and three daughters. (Chap, 
xlii, 10-13.) As the statement in the Holy Record 
is that "The Lord blessed the latter end of Job more 
than his beginning," partly through the generosity 
of his friends and acquaintances, there is no im- 
probability at all that his possessions were doubled. 
From these and perhaps other reasons the historical 
character of the Book of Job as well as the reality 
of the person of Job have been called into question, 
and have been and are believed by some to be only 



11 



a supposed case intended to illustrate the great 
question which the author of the poem purposed to 
examine, that is, Why does suffering on suffering 
befall the righteous ? 

Let us see what reasons there are for believing 
that Job was a real character and that the trans- 
actions recorded in the Book are historically true. 

1. In the first two chapters of the Book and a 
part of the last chapter there are simple historical 
records and they declare Job's existence, and no 
statements are to be found in the Bible more clear 
and plain than these; this fact should be regarded 
as decisive unless there is some reason which does not 
appear on the face of the narrative for regarding 
it as allegorical. 

2. The Scriptures prove his real existence. Thus 
in Ezekiel's message to the Jews while in captivity 
(Chapter xiv, 14, 16, 18, 20) there occurs this say- 
ing, "Though these three men, Noah, Daniel and 
Job were in it," (the land of Palestine) "they should 
deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, 
saith the Lord, they shall deliver neither sons nor 
daughters/' Note well that this is not Ezekiel's 
language, but it is God who speaks, and the Prophet 
is simply the medium of this communication from 
Jehovah to the captive Jews. Job is here referred 
to as a real character as distinctly as Noah and 



12 



Daniel; all are mentioned by name as real men, as 
having souls, "they shall deliver hut their own souls 
by their righteousness;" as having sons and daugh- 
ters, "they shall deliver neither son nor daughter." 
A parallel passage occurs in Jeremiah, Chap, xv, 1, 
where Moses and Samuel are mentioned; as these 
are spoken of as real personages, so Job having been 
mentioned in the same manner by Ezekiel, there is 
no reasonable doubt of his existence. Then, too, he 
is mentioned by James in his epistle. Chap, v, 11. 
"Ye have heard of the patience of Job," just as he 
mentions Elijah, Chap, v, 17, "Elias (Elijah) was 
a man subject to like passions as we are." Thus as 
far as this historical record goes we have the same 
assurance that Job existed as we have of the exis- 
tence of Noah, Daniel, Moses, Samuel and Elijah. 
In addition to the foregoing evidence which should 
be conclusive, we find a quotation from Job v, 13 in 
Paul's first Epistle to the Corinthians, Chap, iii, 19, 
"He taketh the wise in their own craftiness," intro- 
duced by the usual formula in the New Testament, 
"It is written," showing that the writer regarded 
it as part of the inspired Word of God. 

Now that God speaks of Job as having existed, 
he must have been a real character or the Infinite 
Father would have been in error, and this we cannot 
imagine, for such a belief would derogate from our 
well founded ideas concerning the perfection of 



13 



Deity, because however faulty we may be, God cannot 
err. 

3. Specific names of persons and places are not 
such as would occur in a parable or an allegory. These 
particulars are not recorded of the parables of the 
Savior excepting that of the rich man and Lazarus, 
and the rich man's name is not given, only Lazarus ; 
yet the latter name was so common amongst the Jews 
that he could not be located. In the parables of the 
Prodigal Son, the Nobleman who went to reerlve a 
kingdom, the unjust Steward, the ten Virgins, the 
good Samaritan, and many others, no names are 
given of persons or places where scenes are laid. In 
the Book of Job we have the names of many distinct 
specifications not necessary to illustrate the main 
truth in the poem. We have the names of Job and his 
friends as well as the places of their residence, Chap, 
ii 11; "Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, 
and Zophar the Naamathite", also Chap, xxxii, 2, 
"Elihu the son of Barachel, the Buzite, of the kin- 
dred of Ram;" likewise there is express mention of 
the Sabeans and Chaldeans, Chap, i, 15, 17 ; the men- 
tion of the feasting of the sons and daughters of Job, 
his admonishing them and offering up special sacri- 
fices for them, Chap, i, 4, 5; the destruction of the 
oxen ? asses, sheep, camels and servants as well as of 
the house where the sons and daughters of Job were, 
Chap, i, 13-19 ; the names of his three daughters after 

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the return of prosperity, Chap, xlii, 13, 14; all of 
which circumstances we might expect concerning real 
transaction, and they conduce to impress upon us 
more deeply the feeling that Job was a living realitj 
and not an allegorical myth. 

The objections urged against this view are not 
sufficient to disprove the patriarch's real existence. 

4. It is impossible to prove that no such trans- 
action ever occurred as the account of the interview 
between God and Satan recorded in the first two 
chapters. The existence of the latter being is every- 
where recognized in the Scriptures, and the account 
given of his character accords entirely with the 
general representation of him, and even if there be 
somewhat of poetic statement in the narrative of his 
introduction upon the scene, still it does not render 
the main account improbable. When the Bible says 
that God speaks to men, that He conversed with 
Adam ? that He spake to the Serpent, (Genesis, Chap, 
iii), we are not to press these statements too liter- 
ally, nor because they are not strictly literal do they 
invalidate the main facts, for there were facts and 
results following as if they had been literally true. 

As the foregoing are the principal objections urged 
against the historical character of the Book, and do 
not seem to be well founded, it follows that it should 
be taken as historically true that Job actually lived 
and passed through the trials described in the Book. 



15 



CHAPTER III. 



Whei~e Did Job Live? 

In the Land of Uz. But where is Uz? East of 
Palestine, not a very great distance from the Sabeans 
and Chaldeans who could reach him in their preda- 
tory excursions, Chap, i, 15-17 ; north of the southern 
Arabians and west of the Euphrates River; it prob- 
ably corresponded with the Arabian Desert of classi- 
cal geography, or as much of it as lies north of 30th 
parallel of latitude. 



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CHAPTER IV. 



When Did J oh Live? 

Probably no question concerning this man of heroic 
moral and spiritual stature has caused such a diver- 
sity of opinion and wide range of belief. Some assign 
to him a period of remote antiquity, near the time of 
the three great Hebrew Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac 
and Jacob, or about 1900 B. C, that is, about 550 
years after the deluge. Others, because of the simi- 
larity between some sentiments advanced by Job and 
the writings of the Royal Sage, think that he must 
have lived about or shortly after the time of Solomon, 
that is 1000 years B. C, and derived some of his 
opinions from Solomon's writings; but may not 
Solomon in his deep and varied researches have 
studied the philosophy of Job? Still others believe 
him to have been contemporary with Isaiah, or about 
700 B. C. Yet others think he may have lived about 
500 B. O. 

For several reasons we are strongly inclined to 
adopt the first opinion expressed above. 

1. His age. There was a gradual decline in the 
number of years of average human life from the flood 

17 



to Moses. According to this he must have lived be- 
fore the giving of the law on Mt. Sinai, and even be- 
fore the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. 

2. All the traditions in Arabic and the testimony 
of Hebrew writers concur in assigning his life time 
to the days of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 

3. From the book itself it is very clear that he lived 
before the departure from Egypt ; this is evident be- 
cause there is no allusion either to that remarkable 
event or to the wonders which preceded it, nor to the 
journey to Canaan. These stirring events are fre- 
quently referred to by the sacred writers, and as all 
this must have been known to the people of the 
country where Job lived, it is unaccountable that 
there is no reference to them if they had already oc- 
curred. Even if the Book were written subsequent 
to the exodus from Egypt, the Author of the Poem 
intended to represent the Patriarch as having lived 
before that wonderful event. 

4. It is equally probable that he lived before the 
destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, because as 
these cities were in tha vicinity of the country where 
Job lived, he certainly would have known of the great 
calamity visited upon the people on account of their 
sins and doubtless would have referred to this great 
catastrophe; moreover it was the very point main- 



18 



tained by the great Sufferer's friends, that God in- 
terposed by direct judgments to cut off the wicked — 
a popular fallacy disproven by the Savior many years 
thereafter in Luke xiii, 1-5. 

5. There is no allusion to any Jewish rites, cus- 
toms, manners, religious ceremonies, priesthood, 
fasts nor Sabbaths. It would have been almost im- 
possible in a discussion covering the whole nature of 
sin, also the providential government of God and 
man's relation to Him, to have avoided all reference 
to His law had that law th#*\been known. 

6. The religion of Job is the same as that prevail- 
ing in the time of Abraham long before the institu- 
tion of the Jewish system — a religion of sacrifices 
but without any. officiating priest. In his time there 
was no priest, no temple, no consecrated altar. As 
the head of the family, Job presents the sacrifice in 
behalf of his children and friends, as did Noah and 
Abraham. This is just the religion which obtained 
amongst the Patriarchs until the giving of the law 
on Mount Sinai, hence it is natural to infer that Job 
lived anterior to that great occasion. Noah built 
an altar to Jehovah, (Gen. viii, 20), and Abraham 
himself offered sacrifices in the same manner, (Gen. 
xii, 7 ; xxii, 9. Sacrifices were offered to God, and the 
father of a family was the officiating priest of his 
own family and household. 



19 



7. The manners and customs described are those 
of the earliest Patriarchs. 

8. The worship of the sun and moon is the only 
form of idolatry mentioned, which was beyond any 
doubt the most ancient, (Chap, xxxi, 26-28). 

Drusius quoting a declaration from the Gemara, 
says, 'Mob lived in the days of Jacob, and was born 
when the children of Israel went down into Egypt, 
and when they departed thence he died. He lived 
therefore 210 years." This is only tradition, but it 
shows the ancient impression as to the time when he 
lived. The fore-going circumstances all point to a 
great antiquity for the life of Job, a period not re- 
mote from the age of Abraham and there is no other 
period of history in which these conditions all unite. 



20 



CHAPTER V. 



Who Was the Author of the Book of J oh? 

The first circumstance noticeable to one in decid- 
ing the authorship of the Book is the fact that it 
differs materially from the usual style of Hebrew 
composition. The general cast of the book is 
Arabian. The allusions, metaphors and illustrations 
are not such as a Hebrew would make. Arabian 
deserts, streams failing from drought, wadys filled 
in the winter and dry in the summer, moving cara- 
vans that come regularly to the same place for water, 
for dwellings tents easily plucked up and removed, 
the dry and stinted shrubbery of the desert, the roar- 
ing of lions and other wild beasts, periodic rains, 
trees planted on the verge of running streams, robbers 
that rise before day and make their attack in early 
morning, the obligation of the avenger of blood, the 
claims of hospitality, the formalities of an Arabic 
court of justice, the respect due to an Emir or Arabic 
chief, the courtesy of manners which prevailed 
amongst the more elevated ranks in the Arabic 
tribes, appear everywhere in the Book. 

A second consideration in determining the author- 
ship of the Book is the fact that there are in it a 



21 



great many allusions to events which occurred be- 
fore the exodus of Israel from Egypt, the giving of 
the Law on Mount Sinai and the establishment of 
Jewish institutions, and are of such a character as 
we find in the time of Noah and Abraham. 

A third consideration is that there are no such 
allusions to events occurring after the exodus from 
Egypt and the establishment of Jewish institutions. 
A few remarks will demonstrate the verity of the 
latter observation. The Hebrew writers were re- 
markable for referring to events of their own history. 
The dealings of God with their nation were so filled 
with love, forbearance and favor that their writings 
constantly adduce His protective care and merciful 
treatment of them as a reason for being cheered in 
their captivity and looking for an ultimate deliver- 
ance therefrom ; and in their freedom, liberty is made 
sweet by the memory of what their ancestors had suf- 
fered in the "house of bondage." In particular, the 
deliverance from Egypt, the passage of the Red Sea, 
the giving of the law on Sinai, the journey in the 
wilderness, the conquest of the land of Canaan and 
the destruction of their enemies constituted a never 
failing supply of material for their writers in all 
ages. Now it is very noticeable and even remarkable 
that there are no such allusions in the Book of Job 
to these events, as a Hebrew would make. 



22 



There is no reference to Moses the great leader 
of the Israelites, to their bondage in i^gypt, to cue 
oppression of .Pharaoh, to tne destruction of his 
army m the Hed teiea, to the rescue of the cnilaien ol 
israel, to the giving of the Law on Mount &mai, tne 
perns of the wilderness, their settlement in me 
.Promised Land, to the tabernacle ot the ark of the 
covenant, the tables of the Law, the priesthood, cities 
of refuge, religious rites of the Hebrew people, their 
great national festivities or the names of the J ewish 
tribes. 

The reasons suggested above are such as seem to 
leave no rational doubt that the work was composed 
before the departure from Egypt although there have 
been some, such as Luther, Grotius and Doederlin 
who suppose that Solomon was the author, others, 
such as Umreit and Noyes believe it was written by 
some unknown person about the time of the Baby- 
lonish captivity. Warburton thought it was the 
work of Ezra; yet others as Eosenmuller, Span- 
heim and Kichter held the opinion that it was writ- 
ten by some Hebrew author about the time of Solo- 
mon: amongst others, Lightfoot held that the Book 
was a production of Elihu who comes into notice in 
the twenty-second chapter, but he does not appear to 
have understood the design of the trials that came 
upon Job, yet whoever wrote the first two chapters 



23 



and the last one, evidently saw through the whole 
affair, and comprehended partly the reason why the 
Patriarch was permitted to experience those great 
afflictions. Had Elihu known the reasons, they 
would have been suggested by him in his speech. 

The supposition that Job himself was the author 
of the Book, though slightly modified by someone 
subsequently, will meet all the demands of the case. 
This will agree with the use of Arabic words now un- 
known in Hebrew; with the references to the noma- 
dic habits and modes of living of the times; also 
with the statements about the simple modes of wor- 
ship and the mention of the sciences and arts, and 
with the absence of all allusions to the exodus from 
Egypt, the giving of the Law and the peculiar cus- 
toms and institutions of the Hebrews. 

Beside the general considerations the following 
facts may aid in showing this opinion to be probable 
in the highest degree. 

1. Job lived after his calamities one hundred and 
forty years, thus affording him ample leisure to make 
a record of his trials. 

2. The art of making books although not like that 
of the present day, was known to the Patriarch him- 
self, Chap. xix ? 23 24 ; xxxi, 35. Understanding this 
art and having abundance of leisure, it is not sur- 



24 



prising that he should have recorded what had taken 
place during his remarkable and unsurpassed trials, 
preferring this to uncertain tradition. 

3. The record of his own imperfections, his im- 
patience, his irreverence and of the rebuke from Al- 
mighty God, are characteristic of his frankness and 
honesty; just as Moses and the other sacred writers 
throughout the Scriptures never attempted to con- 
ceal their own faults. 

4. In his own speeches, going in everything im- 
measurably beyond all the other speakers, excepting 
God, he proves conclusively that he was abundantly 
able to compose the Book. Every circumstance 
points to Job as the author of this unique Book, un- 
paralled in antiquity and unexcelled in wisdom by 
any other book in the Bible, excepting the mention 
made of his age and death; these were doubtless 
added by some unknown person just as the thirty- 
fourth chapter of Deuteronomy, which details the age 
and death of Moses, was added to that book by some 
unknown hand. 

But one other supposition seems necessary to be 
considered, and that is that Moses, during his forty 
years spent in various parts of Arabia, found the 
Book, and recognizing the worth of it, adopted it 
as a help in accomplishing the great task to which 



25 



he was called. The style is so different from that 
of Moses that the authorship cannot be imputed to 
him; then, too, the allusions to Arabic customs and 
manners are not such as would likely have been 
familiar to Moses; yet his previous training at the 
court of Pharoah. doubtless, prepared him to appre- 
ciate and look with interest upon any literary docu- 
ment having the stamp of uncommon genius. Had 
the work been written by the great Lawgiver we 
might have supposed there would have been frequent 
references therein which would have betrayed its 
Egyptian origin, yet of these there are none. But 
with all that pertained to the desert — the keeping 
of flocks and herds, the nomadic or wandering mode 
of life, the method of plunder and robbery, the 
author seems to be familiar. On the whole, it seems 
highly probable that the Book was written by Job 
himself during the time of rest and prosperity which 
succeeded his trials, and came to the knowledge of 
Moses in Arabia and by him was adopted to aid 
the Hebrews in their day of trial and hardship to 
submit wholly to the will of God, and to give them 
the assurance that He would yet appear to crown 
with abundant blessings His own people, however 
much they might have to contend with affliction and 
adversity. 



26 



The historical facts were probably learned by 
Moses during his sojourn in Midian and he may 
have revised the Book with additions, consequently 
it was allowed by the Jews as a part of their Scrip- 
tures. Thus we have the Mosaic edition of Job, the 
most ancient literary production in existence, and 
one than which none other surpasses it in profound 
learning, properly referred to by Oarlyle as "A 
noble Book, all men's Book.'' 



27 



CHAPTER VI. 



What is the Character and Design of the Book? 

The poem bears the marks of a regular design or 
plan, the trichotomy or its division into three parts 
appearing not only in respect to the longer portions, 
but also in respect to the shorter sub-divisions. Thus 
we have the three grand divisions : 

1. The Prologue, 

2. The Poem proper, and 

3. The Epilogue or conclusion. 

The poem also presents three leading sub-divisions : 

1. The controversy of Job and his three friends, 

2. The speeches of Elihn, who offers himself as 
umpire between Job and his three friends, and 

3. The address of God who decides the question 
at issue. 

There are three series of arguments between Job 
and his three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad 
the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite; three 
speeches in the final address of Job ; the discussion 
was carried on through three days or sessions, prob- 
ably with a considerable interval between them. 



28 



Jehovah also makes three addresses. Lastly, the 
Epilogue contains a similar sub-division: (1) Job's 
justification, (2) his reconciliation with his friends 
through his prayers for them, (3) his restoration 
to prosperity. 

The prologue or introduction and the epilogue or 
conclusion are historical and may have been written 
by Moses and added to the intervening portion writ- 
ten by Job. The whole Book is in poetry excepting 
the prologue, which includes the first two chapters 
and the first and second verses of the third chapter; 
also the first five verses and part of the sixth verse 
of chapter thirty-two, and the epilogue which in- 
cludes the last eleven verses of chapter forty-two. 

The Book may be said to consist of seven parts : 
I. The Prologue, Chapter i, ii, 8. 
II. Job and his wife, ii, 9, 10. 

III. Job and his three friends, ii, 11 — xxxi, 40. 

IV. Job and Elihu, xxxii, 1 — xxxvii, 24. 
V. Jehovah and Job, xxxviii, 1 — xli, 34. 

VI. Job's final answer, xlii, 1-6. 
VII. The Epilogue, xlii, 7-17. 

Job as introduced to us is rated as a "perfect and 
upright" man, "one that feared God and eschewed 
evil." Suddenly he was overwhelmed with almost 



29 



unparalleled calamity. All that he possessed was 
at once swept away; his oxen and she-asses were 
taken by the Sabeans, and those who attended them 
were slain by the sword ; lightning struck and killed 
his sheep and those attending them; his camels were 
carried away by the Chaldeans and they slew those 
having charge of them. His sons and daughters were 
feasting at the elder brother's house when a tornado 
struck it, and in the ruin all were killed. Then we 
have the record, "In all this Job sinned not, nor 
charged God foolishly," Chap, i, 22. 

Subsequently he was visited with disease of the 
most distressing nature, painful, offensive and hu- 
miliating, known as the black leprosy (to distin- 
guish it from the more common disorder, called 
white leprosy) which involved the necessity of his 
separation from society, all of which was such as 
deeply to humble a man of the rank and dignity of 
Job ; consequently he betook himself to an ash heap 
at some distance from his friends and acquaintances, 
there to endure and to weep alone as "he sat down 
among the ashes," Chap, ii, 7, 8. 

At that time it was that his wife advised him to 
"curse God and die;" but the calm firmness of his 
reply assures us of his undiminished faith in Je- 
hovah when he says, "Thou speakest as one of the 
foolish women speaketh. What! shall we receive 



30 



good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive 
evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips," 
Chap, ii, 9, 10. 

Three of his friends having heard of his great 
misfortunes, came from afar, having "made an ap- 
pointment together to come tomorrow with him and 
to comfort him'' as he sat upon the ash-heap. They 
were Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, 
and Zophar the Naamathite. So surprised were they 
at his appearance when afar off that at first they 
did not know him, but as soon as they recognized 
him they wept, rent their mantles and sprinkled dust 
upon their heads; they sat down upon the ground 
with him for seven days and seven nights, none 
speaking a word to him because "his grief was very 
great." Chap, ii, 11-13. 

Eliphaz seems to have been the oldest of Job's 
friends; he is a religious dogmatist, and on him 
falls the main burden of the argument that God's 
retribution in this world is perfect and certain, and 
that consequently suffering must be a proof of pre- 
vious sin. His style is bold and graphic, and he 
says many true things (as also the others do) and 
often rises into eloquence, but he is harsh and cruel, 
implying, in his speeches, hypocrisy on the part of 
Job. The great truth brought out by him is the un- 
approachable majesty and purity of God. He is 



ai 



the mildest of Job's accusers, yet while his accusa- 
tions are conducted with great art and urbanity of 
manner, they are severely cruel and bitingly sar- 
castic. 

Bildad thinks Job a hypocrite, using much harsh- 
ness in his language and much severity in his re- 
proof; he assumes that the great Sufferer and his 
family had been guilty of great sins, that his chil- 
dren had been cut off because of their crimes ; being 
more harsh and less argumentative than Eliphaz, 
yet agreeing substantially with the latter in his 
opinion that Job was a hypocrite; his criticisms are 
characterized by great severity and he is unkind in 
his manner as well as uncharitable in his views. 

Zophar, having less ability, gentleness and re- 
finement than either of the other speakers, seems to 
think Job both a hypocrite and a liar. Like them, 
he assumes that Job had sinned, and assures him 
that if he will repent and return to Jehovah, he 
should have prosperity and happiness again. This 
really is the trend of all their speeches, and in this 
they all heartily agree, notwithstanding minor dif- 
ferences, insisting that the Patriarch is a bad man, 
a hypocrite, although outwardly good; otherwise 
his sufferings would be unjust. Although he him- 
self is the sufferer. Job will not thus accuse the 
justice of God, and his defense of himself is perfect. 



32 



Before Jehovah, however, he knows he is helpless 
and undone, and while he admits (Chap, ix, 33) 
there is no daysman, that is umpire between God 
and him, yet his firm abiding, confiding, fully trust- 
ing faith in the loving Father is rewarded later by 
a revelation of a coming Redeemer and the resur- 
rection, Chap, xix, 25-27. 

Job successfully refutes the arguments off his 
three friends that he is a secret sinner, but the 
question, "Why are the righteous afflicted?" still 
remains; however, the solution of this mysterious 
yet true fact is solved in the latter part of the Book. 

Elihu seems to have a more just and accurate con- 
ception of why the righteous are afflicted than Eli- 
phaz, Bildad or Zophar, because he has a higher con- 
ception of God Himself. The three friends believe 
Him to be petty and exacting in His relations with 
His creatures, but Elihu's idea of the great Creator 
is that He is noble, just and merciful, ever ready to 
receive the repentant erring one. His discourse, 
however, is marred by self-assertiveness, and al- 
though he is not classed at the last by Jehovah with 
the three friends of Job, Chap, xlii, 7, yet God brings 
against him the charge that he "darkeneth counsel 
by words," Chap, xxxviii, 2, the very same complaint 
that Elihu had brought against Job, Chaps, xxxiv, 
35; xxxv, 16. 

33 



CHAPTER VII. 



A Brief Analysis of the Chapters. 

The Book of Job is probably the oldest of the 
books of Holy Writ and certainly composed before 
the giving of the Law. 

In the first two chapters there is a statement con- 
cerning the character of Job, his family and pros- 
perity, his piety and that of his family, Satan's 
theory that Job was good because prosperous, also 
the mystery of God's permissive will. Following 
this is an account of the destruction of his family 
and property by the Sabeans, Chaldeans, lightning 
and a tornado, as well as his being afflicted with the 
black leprosy. 

Although the "patience of Job" had, doubtless, 
become a proverbial expression before the writing 
of the Epistle of James, A. D. 60, James v, 16, yet 
when the Patriarch made his first speech, Chap, iii, 
we find him bitterly cursing the day of his birth, 
indulging in murmuring and complaint, and wishing 
for death, all of which caused his three friends to 
suspect him of insincerity, indeed of being a hypo- 
crite forsaken of God. 



34 



Eliphaz led the way, Chaps, iv, v, in the argument 
following, first stating the honorable and honored 
position from which Job had fallen, then reproving 
him for lack of religion, suggesting whether a life 
of piety would not be attended with corresponding 
prosperity, and whether his misfortunes and suffer- 
ings were not demonstrative of his guilt. 

In Chapters vi and vii Job replies to Eliphaz 
excusing his desire for death, reproving his friends 
for their unkindness, mentioning God's watchfulness, 
and making an earnestly touching appeal for pity. 
It is in Chapter vii, verse 16, that he uses the beau- 
tiful and, to the Christian, the inspiring expression, 
"I would not live alway,'' which has been eternally 
memorialized in the following exquisite hymn of 
that title, written by Rev. Wm. A. Muhlenberg, D. 
D., 1824. 

I would not live alway, I ask not to stay- 
Where storm after storm rises dark o'er the way. 
The few fleeting mornings that dawn on us here 
Are enough for life's sorrows — enough for its cheer. 

I would not live alway; no, welcome the tomb; 
Since Jesus hath lain there, I dread not its gloom ; 
There sweet be my rest, till He bid me arise, 
To hail Him in triumph descending the skies. 



35 



Who, who would live alway, away from his God, 
Away from yon heaven, that blissful abode, 
Where rivers of pleasure flow o'er the bright plains, 
And the noontide of glory eternally reigns? 

Where the saints of all ages in harmony meet, 
Their Savior and brethren transported to greet; 
While anthems - rapture unceasingly roll, 
And the smile of the Lord is the feast of the souL 



Substantially the same feeling is shown in this 
speech of Job as was manifested in Chapter iii, and 
while there is great beauty, yet there is much which 
cannot be sanctioned. 

Eliphaz was followed in the same order during 
each sitting of the debate by his two friends. Job 
being most deeply concerned in the issue, and having 
no one to stand by him, responds to each one of the 
speakers. Three successive series of arguments gave 
each one of the friends of Job the privilege of saying 
all he wished to say, thus permitting him to speak 
three times, each speech being replied to by Job who 
consequently spoke nine times; Eliphaz, then Job; 
Bildad, then Job, and Zophar, then Job, excepting in 
the last series when Zophar failed to speak, thus 
silently acknowledging defeat and conceding no reply 
could be made to Job's arguments. 



36 



They accuse him of want of religion, of presump- 
tion, of impatience, of divers sins; to all of which 
he replied vigorously denying these imputations, ex- 
pressing his innocence of what they accuse him, de- 
claring his firm, immovable faith in God, although 
bemoaning his calamities and complaining of life. 
He entreats to know his own sins and God's purpose 
in permitting his affliction, declares his belief in the 
resurrection, also that the wicked often prosper here, 
going unpunished, but their judgment is in another 
world. 

Bildad, in his first address, answers Job in Chap- 
ter viii, claiming that no one can be just with God, 
and that if He should enter into judgment with 
man, man could not give a justifiable reason for one 
of a thousand of his offenses ; also alleging antiquity 
to prove the certain destruction of the hypocrite, ap- 
plying God's just dealing to Job, thus indicating his 
belief in the hypocrisy of the suffering Patriarch. 

In Chapters ix and x we have the answer of Job 
to Bildad's first speech in which he does not pre- 
tend to be faultless, but claims entire innocence of 
the secret sins with which his friends had charged 
him, asserting most positively that he is not a hypo- 
crite as they had said. In the speeches of Job at 
times there are evidences that he is agitated with 
contending passions, as there is apparent inconsist- 



37 



ency in his language and thoughts. He admits in 
general the truth of what Bildad had said, that 
man ought not to sit in judgment on what Jehovah 
does or may permit, but should make supplication 
to Him. Job has full confidence in God and dem- 
onstrates conclusively that he is a pious man, yet 
when contemplating his own sorrows he becomes 
impatient, indulging in language of murmuring and 
complaint. 

Chapter xi contains the first speech of Zophar. 
He thinks J ob both hypocritical and untruthful, tak- 
ing it for granted that he has sinned and thus 
caused his misfortunes. Zophar less argumenta- 
tive than Eliphaz, and his speeches are little more 
than a repetition of what was said by his friends, 
assuring Job that if he would repent and turn to 
God he would be prospered and once again become a 
respected and an honored man. 

In Chapters xii, xiii and xiv J ob not only answers 
Zophar, but also the other two, Eliphaz and Bildad, 
and is so disgusted with their failure to convict him 
of hypocrisy that he becomes very sarcastic, saying 
in Chapter xii. verse 2, "No doubt but ye are the 
people, and wisdom shall die with you;" affirming 
also in verse 3 that he understood the points on which 
they insisted as well as they ; then proceeding to dis- 
course of the Most High in such a way as was cal- 



38 



ciliated to make them ashamed of their narrow 
views. He speaks of the universal sovereignty of 
God ; says that the knowledge of Him is to be learned 
from the beasts, the earth and the whole order of 
events; admits that His agency is seen everywhere, 
but maintains that His dispensations are not in ex- 
act accordance with the character of man, and that 
men are not treated according to their deserts in 
this life. He expresses his earnest wish to place his 
cause entirely in the hands of Jehovah ? affirming his 
earnest faith in the Wise Dispenser of all events, 
though He should slay him. In this reply to his 
three friends there is mingled complaint, remon- 
strance, despondency, doubt and surprising faith. 
Thus Job closes the first series of the controversy, 
feeling that God and man were against him, and 
that he had no real comforter. 

Chapter xv contains the second discourse of Eli- 
phaz and also begins the second series of the contro- 
versy. He accuses Job of vanity, of unprofitable 
talk, of having cast off the fear of God, of arrogance 
and self-confidence, giving a graphic description of 
the misery of a wicked man, mentioning so many 
circumstances applicable to Job. that the latter 
readily perceived the unkind allusions of the speaker, 
and by him were keenly felt, because Eliphaz an- 
nounced them as the result of long observation, and 



39 



that they were strengthened by the well-known max- 
ims of tradition and antiquity. 

In Chapters xvi and xvii we have the reply of Job 
to this second speech of Eliphaz, accusing him and 
his friends of unmercifulness and heaping up "vain 
words." He delivers another affecting description 
of his calamities yet maintaining his innocence, stat- 
ing that if his friends were in his place he could 
shake his head at and despise them, yet he would 
not do it, but endeavor to comfort them. He appeals 
from men to God, feeling that the unmerciful deal- 
ing of men with the afflicted may astonish but not 
discourage the righteous. 

Chapter xvii? gives us Bildad's second speech, con- 
taining a string of Oriental proverbial expressions 
implying that where great calamities visit a man 
there is the most conclusive proof that he is wicked ; 
he details many of these calamities, and it is very 
evident that he means to apply all this to Job ; that 
it would add very materially to the latter's trials 
is very clear, because his rejoinder in the following 
chapter contains many expressions indicating his 
almost insufferable anguish. 

In Chapter xix Job complains of his friends' cruel- 
ty, declaring very positively that his sufferings had 
been permitted by God for some reason unknown to 
him, but should not be considered as evidence that 

40 



he was the guilty person they had accused him of 
being. On account of his great trials he craves pity 
of his friends; afterwards inspired by his sublime 
faith in the Great Creator he announces his belief 
in the resurrection (Verses 25-27) and closes by 
warning his accusers that they should fear the 
wrath of Heaven because of their treatment of a 
pious sufferer. 

Zophar's second discourse, Chapter xx, seems 
laden with tradition and proverb; in it he claims 
that from the creation of man, "the triumphing of 
the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but 
for a moment/' (Verse 5), and proceeds to show this 
by numerous and striking examples. This speech is 
remarkable for its severity, which, doubtless, Zophar 
intended to be applied to Job; but the former does 
not notice the unbounded confidence of the latter in 
God, which he had expressed in the preceding 
chapter. 

In Chapted xxi Job replies not only to Zophar, 
but also to his two friends, Eliphaz and Bildad. 
They all had endeavored by specious argumentation 
to prove that the wicked are visited in this life for 
their sins with condign punishment by Jehovah, and 
had asserted that when a man suffers much it is 
proof positive that he is wicked. Job defends the 
contrary opinion and mentions how in many ways 



41 



sometimes the wicked are eminently prosperous, al- 
though sometimes their destruction is manifest; but 
that their just doom must be in a future state. He 
thus refutes the view that he is afflicted because he 
is a sinner. Having attacked and successfully con- 
troverted the main argument of his opponents, after 
this the controversy becomes more feeble until they 
are completely silenced and cease even to attempt 
to reply to him. 

The old theory — that Job had sinned — is the main 
subject in the third speech of Eliphaz, Chapter xxii, 
in which he openly charges the Patriarch with aggra- 
vated guilt, which before had rather been implied 
than said. In this discourse there is much severity, 
and far more than is usual that is personal, for the 
accuser specifies various and flagrant violations by 
Job of the laws of God and the demands of human- 
ity, yet concludes by exhorting him to repentance, 
to acquaint himself with God, promising that He 
will show mercy to him. 

In Chapters xxiii and xxiv we have Job's answer 
to the third and last address of Eliphaz. He longs 
to appear before Jehovah, having implicit confidence 
in His mercy and appealing to His omniscience for 
a vindication of his innocency of life amongst men. 
He makes one more attempt to convince his adver- 
saries that the All-wise Father does not deal with 



42 



the wicked in this life as they deserve, and indeed 
that many of them live in prosperity ; but that they 
will meet the reward of their "iniquity hereafter. 
All this being a generally accepted fact, it virtually 
ended the controversy. Eliphaz and Zophar made no 
further response and Bildad made only a feeble 
effort in the next chapter, showing he had really 
nothing more to say. 

The brief rejoinder of Bildad in Chapter xxv con- 
cludes what the three friends of Job have to say, for 
Zophar does not even attempt to make further re- 
ply. This speech is composed simply of a few sen- 
tentious remarks, as if he felt he must say some- 
thing, but hardly knew what to say, for he does not 
seem to make any additional effort to confute Job's 
argument. The feebleness of this attempt encour- 
ages the afflicted Servant of God to the expression 
of the nobly triumphant sentiments contained in 
the following six chapters. 

In Chapter xxvi Job begins a reply to all that had 
been said by his three friends, and terminates the 
controversy. He begins sarcastically on the last 
speaker (Bildad) as having offered nothing relevant 
to the dispute between them, nothing to relieve his 
mind in its great trouble and almost depth of de- 
spair sometimes, reproving him for his uncharitable 
spirit, and acknowledging with his friends the power 



43 



of God to be infinite, showing also that he could 
even go beyond them in his descriptions of the divine 
power and majesty. 

This speech of Job is the longest of all the ad- 
dresses delivered during this debate between him 
a'jd his three friends; it continues for six chapters, 
ending with Chapter xxxi. 

At this point it seems that Zophar should have 
answered Job, as it was his turn in the regular 
course of the dispute, but he was silent. As noth- 
ing was said in reply to the suffering Patriarch at 
this time, in Chapter xxvii he resumes his remarks. 
He solemnly reasserts his innocence, denying once 
more that his afflictions were proof of extraordinary 
guilt, stating that the hypocrite is without hope, 
and that, although the wicked frequently prosper 
and the innocent suffer in this world, yet the time 
will come when the very blessings of the unrighteous 
will prove a curse to themselves, and they will not go 
unpunished forever. 

Chapter xxviii contains a number of references to 
natural science, showing man's surprising discov- 
eries concerning them, yet Job claims that they dis- 
closed nothing at all of God's administration nor of 
His dealings with mankind; therefore true wisdom 
is to be found only in the fear of the Lord, "a pro- 
found veneration for the Almighty.'' Answering 



44 



the false charges of Eliphaz (Chapter xxii, 6-9) Job 
descants in Chapter xxix very beautifully upon his 
former prosperity and happiness, when the young 
and the aged, the princes and nobles, the poor and 
the rich, the widow and orphan, the blind and the 
lame rendered him the highest honor and gave to 
him unbounded respect. "It is the image of a ven- 
erable patriarch, a wise counsellor, a universal bene- 
factor, a composer of difficulties, a mian enjoying 
universal confidence and affection — a beautiful de- 
scription of piety and its effects everywhere, and of 
the respect shown to wisdom, virtue and beneficence 
in all ages." 

The Patriarchal Hero cites in Chapter xxx a com- 
parison of his condition with his former affluence 
and joy, the lack of respect and honor which he had 
formerly enjoyed. The very dregs of society now 
made him their song, even the youths joining with 
others in adding to his calamities. He had cried in 
vain to God, and now was in the deepest distress, 
he was "a brother to dragons and a companion to 
owls," (Verse 30). 

Chapter xxxi portrays the high moral standard 
which characterized and governed the life of Job, 
reminding us of the heart-searching demands laid 
down by Jesus Christ in the Sermon on the Mount, 
(Matthew, Chapters v, vi and vii) . This chapter con- 



45 



eludes the reply of Job, thus closing the argument, 
and is a beautiful vindication of his private life, as 
well as a fine illustration of what was regarded in 
the patriarchal times as constituting true piety. He 
specifies chastity, sincerity of life, uprightness and 
purity of life, fidelity to the marriage vow, faith- 
fulness to his servants, beneficence to the poor, the 
widow and the fatherless, freedom from idolatry, 
kindness to his enemies, hospitality, freedom from 
secret sin, honesty towards others in the purchase 
of ground. Having thus proved his integrity, he 
considered his character as vindicated and had no 
more to say. 

Although his friends had come quite a distance to 
comfort Job, yet their dismal failure is still memo- 
rialized by the contemptuous expression "Job's com- 
forters." Wearied and worried by their persistent 
attempts to prove his extraordinary wickedness be- 
cause of overwhelming calamities, he stoutly pro- 
tested his innocence and manifested an earnest de- 
sire to carry his cause up to God that he might get 
a hearing before Him, confident that the merciful 
Father would decide in his favor, thus creating the 
impression upon his three friends that he was self- 
righteous. 

Now there appears upon the scene, in Chapter 
xxxii, Elihu, a younger man who comes with much 



46 



modesty, yet with greater pretensions. Whether 
he came with the others to express his sympathy 
with Job, or whether he was a personal friend, or 
whether he was just incidentally present at this 
discussion is not even intimated. He himself states 
his reasons for speaking. (1) His wrath was kindled 
against Job because he justified himself rather than 
God (Verse 2), having indulged in severe reflections 
on the divine dealings; (2) he considered the three 
friends of Job equally to be blamed, because they 
had unsparingly condemned the great Sufferer, yet 
had not been able to reply to his arguments. The 
first six verses are prose; the remainder as well as 
the succeeding chapters of Elihu's speech, conclud- 
ing with Chapter xxxvii. are poetry. 

Because wisdom comes not necessarily from age 
he excuses the boldness of his youth ; his mind being 
greatly excited, he could contain himself no longer. 
He tells Job's friends that it was incumbent upon 
them to have met and overcome his arguments be- 
cause the Patriarch's words had not been directed 
against him, but since they had been completely 
silenced, he felt called upon to express his opinions, 
promising to be impartial, with no disposition to 
flatter. 

In Chapter xxxiii the discourse is addressed en- 
tirely to Job, the main design of which is to con- 



47 



vince him that his views of God were erroneous, also 
to state the real design of affliction which Elihu 
thinks neither Job nor his friends understood, the 
latter believing it was a mere punishment. Job 
had antagonized this opinion, but was unable to 
tell why good men are afflicted; sometimes seeming 
to think it a mere matter of God's sovereignty, then 
again that the Heavenly Father took pleasure in 
subjecting him to trials without sufficient cause, 
and still at other times he held that Jehovah would 
yet vindicate the afflicted. Elihu insisting that none 
of them understood the true object of affliction, con- 
tends it was to bring about results in daily living, 
which nothing else would accomplish, and if the af- 
flicted would repent of their sins and turn to God 
He would be merciful to them. 

With sincerity and meekness, Elihu offers him- 
self to reason with Job instead of God, excusing the 
Almighty from giving to man an account of His 
ways, and chiding the Patriarch for his severe re- 
flections on the divine dealings. He claims that 
even if man could not see the reason for God's do- 
ings, he should acquiesce in them; that He often 
calls men by afflictions, and if these are received in 
the proper spirit He will accept and forgive the 
erring sons of toil. Elihu calls on Job to reply if 
he has anything to say, but if not, he would teach 
him what true wisdom is. 

48 



Finding that Job had nothing to answer, Elihu, 
in Chapter xxxiv, addresses particularly the three 
friends, considering the sentiments "expressed by the 
Patriarch, accusing him of charging God with in- 
justice, claiming that the Omnipotent Ruler of the 
universe cannot be unjust. All men being under 
the notice of Jehovah, the wicked cannot escape and 
elude the vigilance of the Omniscient Governor of 
all creation. He charges Job with rebellion and in- 
sists that man must humble himself before God. 

Chapter xxxv is a continuation of the speech of 
Elihu. God is supreme, and so exalted that He can 
reap no advantage from the service of man, nor can 
He be injured by the disobedience of man, therefore 
it should be presumed He is impartial, and all should 
submit to Him. Many who cry to Him in their 
troubles and are not promptly heard, should at once 
realize it may be because their prayers are not of- 
fered in faith. God cannot be and is not indifferent 
to the welfare of His true children. 

Elihu is yet speaking in Chapter xxxvi, and shows 
how God is just in all His ways, being watchful 
over the conduct of all men, endeavoring to reclaim 
the guilty and inducing them to forsake their sin. 
He charges Job with being obstinate and refusing to 
repent of his sins under the chastisements of Je- 
hovah. In this view of the nature and design of 



49 



affliction he differs somewhat from the friends of 
Job. They held it was full proof of hypocrisy; that 
in his former life he had been a man of eminent 
guilt. Elihu maintained it was disciplinary, that 
upon his repentance the Sufferer would again enjoy 
the divine favor; that the reason he had ex- 
perienced such great trials and for so long ? was that 
the discipline had failed of its object. 

He reminds Job that God is wise and His works 
are to be magnified, referring to the rain, the dew, 
the clouds, the thunder and the vapor to show that 
we cannot understand His wonderful creations. He 
is beyond our comprehension and we should bow 
submissively to His will. 

Chapter xxxvii is a continuation of the argument 
in the latter part of the preceding one, to demon- 
strate the majesty and glory of God. His works are 
inscrutable. Elihu refers to the thunder storm, 
the snow and the rain, the whirlwind and cold, 
clouds, the warmth of his own garments, the sky and 
the fair weather. In all these wonderful works His 
majesty, power, justice, wisdom and love are mani- 
fest, yet past finding out, therefore man should fear 
and adore Him, submitting to the Almighty Sover- 
eign his understanding and heart. 

In Chapter xxxvii i the Exalted Ruler of the great 
universe is heard addressing Job from the midst of 



50 



a tempest; not as the latter had hoped, to vindicate 
him, but to bring him to a proper state of mind, re- 
proving the Patriarch's presumption which had 
characterized his mention of the divine dealings, 
also his utter incompetency to judge of the ways of 
Jehovah ; yet at the close of the scene God approves 
of the general spirit of Job in preference to that of 
his friends, and restores him to greater prosperity 
than he had enjoyed before his afflictions. The ap- 
peal in this chapter is made by the Omnipotent 
Father to show how incomprehensible is the Great 
Creator of all things animate and inanimate, and 
He requires Joib to explain some of the well known 
works in nature, the argument being, if he could 
not explain those matters which are before his eyes 
daily, it would be presumption for him to claim the 
ability to make clear the purposes of the Great Je- 
hovah. To illustrate this, God mentions the forma- 
tion of the earth, confining the sea within its bounds, 
the formation and distribution of light and dark- 
ness, the formation of snow, hail, lightning, storm, 
rain, ice, the rising and setting of the stars, the in- 
stincts of the animal kingdom. 

Chapter xxxix continues the argument begun at 
verse 39 of the previous chapter, drawn from the 
habits, instincts and power of the animal creation. 
God here cites the wild goats of the rocks, the wild 



51 



ass, the unicorn, ostrich, horse, hawk and eagle, de- 
signing to show how incompetent man is to pro- 
nounce on His doings. 

In Chapter xl God rebukes and silences Job out 
of the whirlwind in language of incomparable gran- 
deur for his presumption in contending with Him, 
and for the utterances he had used, convincing the 
Patriarch by His mighty works of his own ignor- 
ance and impotence compared with Him, the Crea- 
tor of all things, the Almighty Jehovah. Whereupon 
Job, still confiding implicitly in his Heavenly Father, 
acknowledges the omnipotence of God, expresses his 
guilt, and humbles himself before his unerring Maker. 
God then continues the argument in proof of His 
own power and glory ; the power being illustrated by 
the statement of the immense strength of the be- 
hemoth — elephant as some suppose, or hippopotamus 
as others believe. 

The argument of the previous chapter is completed 
in Chapter xli by calling Job's attention to the 
leviathan (crocodile) as one of the principal of the 
animal creation. A Being who could make such an 
animal and govern his movements must be a Being 
of great power and glory, to Whom man should 
render great reverence and before Whom he should 
be awed into silence. No reference is made to the 
reason for afflictions. This sublime argument is sim- 



52 



ply to show the impropriety of murmuring against 
One so eminent and potential as God, and to teach 
calm assent to the manifestations of His will. 

Chapter xlii, the closing one of the book, is com- 
posed partly of poetry and partly of prose. The 
first part (in poetry) consisting of six verses, con- 
tains Job's confession that he had erred. He acknowl- 
edges that he had said things he did not understand, 
but now his apprehension of the Almighty was clear 
and bright, thus the desired effect of all his suffer- 
ings and afflictions had been produced upon this an- 
cient Servant of God. 

The second part of this chapter, consisting of 
eleven verses, is in prose, in which the Supreme 
Euler pronounces, the opinions held by Job's friends 
to be erroneous, deciding on the whole, in favor 
of Job as to the controversy between them, which 
decision means that great suffering is no evidence 
of special wickedness, nor is marked prosperity a 
conclusive proof that a man is righteous. As those 
friends of his had said much to cause him poignant 
anguish, God commanded them to take a sacrifice 
to Job for a burnt offering, promising that the lat- 
ter would pray for them, and that they would be 
accepted through the intercession of this glorious 
old Saint. 



Then the Loving Father rewarded the good old 
Patriarch of inviolable faith by doubling his former 
possessions, restoring him to high position in the 
respect and affection of all his relatives, former 
friends and acquaintances, and blessed him with a 
second family as numerous as his first. Thus 
thoroughly vindicated and honored, he lived until 
his eyes beheld a happy and large posterity — "his 
sons and his sons' sons, even four generations," then 
dies at last, "being old and full of days," verses 
16, 17. 



54 



CHAPTER VIII.' 



The Advunce of the Arts and Sciences in the Time 
of Job. 

As an illustration of the progress of society and 
the advance of the arts and sciences in the time of 
Job, also in order to understand the Book in the 
most intelligent manner, it may be of interest to 
notice the mention of these, showing the improve- 
ment along so many lines which the world, especially 
Babylon, Egypt and localities influenced by their 
civilization had acquired at this very early age. No 
exact order can be observed, nor is there any indi- 
cation in the poem which of the things specified 
had the priority in point of time. 

1. Geography, or the natural political divisions 
of the earth ; Chaps, xxiii, 8 ; xxvi, 10 ; xxxviii, 18. 

2. Cosmology, or the structure and support of the 
earth ; Chaps, ix, 6 ; xxvi, 7, 11. 

3. Metereology, including the Aurora Borealis, 
Chap, xxxvii, 21-23; and physical geography, tor- 
nadoes, Chaps, xxxvi, 32, 33; xxxvii, 1-5 ; the dew, 
xxxviii, 28; clouds and rain, xxxvi, 27-29; snow, 
frost, hail and ice, xxxviii, 22, 23, 39; dawning of 



55 



the morning, xxxviii, 12-14 ; phenomena of light and 
darkness, xxxviii, 19, 20; the sea, xxxviii, 8-11. 

4. Astronomy, so anciently and closely observed 
by a pastoral people and largely enhanced by the 
tending of flocks at night under a clear, oriental 
sky, Chaps, ix, 7-9; xxxviii, 31-33. 

5. Mining operations, Chap, xxviii, 1-11. 

6. Writing, engraving and coining, Chaps, xix, 23, 
24; xxxi, 35, 36; xlii, 11. 

7. Precious stones, onyx, sapphire, coral, crystal, 
rubies and topaz, Chap, xxviii, 16-19. 

8. Music, Chaps, xxi, 12; xxx, 31. 

9. The medical art, Chap, xiii, 4. 

10. Hunting, Chap, xviii, 7-13. 

11. The military art; poisoned arrows, Chap, vi, 
4 ; the shield, xv, 26 ; methods of attack and capture 
of a walled city, xvi, 12-14 ; works cast up by a be- 
sieging army, xix, 12; the iron weapon and bow of 
steel, xx, 24; and the war horse, xxxix, 19-25. 

12. Modes of husbandry, Chaps, i, 14; xx, 17; 
xxix, 6 ; xxxi, 38-40 

13. Methods of traveling, Chaps, vi, 15-20; ix, 
25, 26. 

14. Zoology. (1) Insects: the spider, Chap, viii, 
14, 15; the moth, iv, 18, 19; xxvii, 18. (2) Keptiles: 

56 



the asp and viper, xx, 16. (3) Birds or fowl: the 
vulture, xxviii, 7; raven, xxxviii, 41; the stork and 
ostrich, xxxix, 13-18; eagle and hawk, xxxix, 26-30; 
owl, xxx, 29. (4) Beasts: camel, sheep, ox and she- 
ass, i, 3; xlii, 12 ; the lion, iv, 10-11; wild ass, vi, 5; 
xxxix, 5-8; the dog, xxx, 1; jackal (dragon), xxx, 29; 
mountain goat and hind, xxxix, 1-4 ; the horse, xxxix, 
19-25; behemoth (or hippopotamus) xl, 15-24, and 
leviathan (or crocodile), Chap. xli. 



57 



CHAPTER IX. 



The Design of the Book. 

The design of the Book of Job seems to be to prove 
that in all dealings of Providence with His children, 
with those who really do trust in Him, who have 
endeavored to live an upright life, the trials, disap- 
pointments, adversities and afflictions which He per 
mits us to experience are primarily for our ultimate 
good, for the testing and upbuilding of genuinely 
good character. 

There are two considerations which would have 
relieved the Patriarchial Hero's embarrassment, and 
which we, living in these latter days of great spir- 
itual opportunities and much clearer revelation of 
the divine government, can appreciate. (1) Many 
of the dispensations of the Good Father to His chil- 
dren are disciplinary and allowed to test them in 
order to discover to the world their pure gold, and 
thus to demonstrate the real value of faithful, per- 
tinacious devotion to Him and to the principles in- 
culcated by honest attachment to and cheerful faith 
in the Wise Dispenser of all that is good. (2) It is 
desired to show that true virtue is not based on sel- 



58 



fishness, and that real piety will bear trials to which 
it may be subjected; to show the duty of perfect 
submission to the will of God even when we cannot 
understand the mystery of all His doings, for He 
always proves Himself in the end to be the friend 
of the righteous ; yet not because we expect reward, 
but because He is God, consequently boundless in 
wisdom, infinite in His fatherly love towards us, 
His erring creatures, and devotedly interested ' in 
our welfare. Though the good may suffer here, they 
will be abundantly recompensed hereafter ; but how- 
ever prosperous the wicked may be here, the divine 
dealings with them in the future state will be en- 
tirely according to their character. 

While perusing the Book of Job let us remem- 
ber that these truths were not then clearly revealed. 
The speakers had not the same knowledge of the 
divine government, the design of affliction and the 
doctrine of the future state which we have under 
the Christian dispensation. These were appropriate- 
ly reserved for the brighter period in the history 
of the world when the light of Christianity should 
arise. 

Kitto says, "The Book of Job is not only one of 
the most remarkable in the Bible, but in literature. 
As was said of Goliath's sword, 'There is none like 
it, none in ancient or modern literature.' " 



59 



J. A. Froude says, it is "A book which, will one 
day perhaps be seen towering up alone far above all 
the poetry of the world." 

In his Heroes and Hero Worship, Carlyle says, it 
is "One of the grandest things ever written with 
pen. — A noble Book; all men's Book! — Grand in its 
sincerity, in its simplicity; in its epic melody and 
repose of reconcilement. — Sublime sorrow, sublime 
reconciliation; oldest choral melody as of the heart 
of mankind. — There is nothing written, I think, in 
the Bible or out of it, of equal literary merit." 

Yes, yes, the Book is ours. Nearly four thousand 
years have gone into the irrevocable past since this 
Patriarch lived, yet the sublime beauty of the poetry 
in this Book stands unsurpassed, even unrivaled. 

Barnes says, "As a mere specimen of composition, 
apart from all questions of its theological bearing, 
as the oldest book in the world, as reflecting the 
manners, habits and opinions of an ancient gener- 
ation, as illustrating more than any other book ex- 
tant the state of the sciences, the ancient views of 
astronomy, geology, geography, natural history, and 
the advances made in the arts, this book has a higher 
value than can be attached to any other record of 
the past, and demands the profound attention of 
those who would make themselves familiar with 
the history of the race. The theologian should study 



60 



it as an invaluable introduction to the volume of 
inspired truth; the humble Christian to obtain ele- 
vated views of God; the philosopher, to see how 
little the human mind can accomplish on the most 
important of all subjects without the aid of revela- 
tion; the child of sorrow, to learn the lessons of 
patient submission; the man of science, to know 
what was understood in the far distant periods of 
the past ; the man of taste, as an incomparable speci- 
men of poetic beauty and sublimity. It will teach 
invaluable lessons to each advancing generation, and 
to the end of time, true piety and taste will find con- 
solation and pleasure in the study of the Book of 
Job.'' 

Amongst many other helpful passages from this 
great mine of wisdom, how often there has come to 
the child of God, perturbed by doubt or driven to 
despair the expression, "I would not live alway" 
(Chap, vii, 16), and the exclamation, ''Oh, that I 
knew where I might find Him!" (Chap, xxiii, 3). 
Yet with absolute trust in the Loving Father and 
humble reliance upon His paternal mercy, the long- 
ing heart is able to look confidently to Him and say 
with fervor, "He knoweth the way I take/' (Chap, 
xxiii, 10), then rising upon the pinions of faith give 
vent to the certain hope of the Christian, "I know 
that my Redeemer liveth," (Chap, xix, 25). When 



61 



the Grim Messenger invades the peaceful domestic 
life, in imitation of the noble old Patriarch, how 
comforting to realize his beautiful faith when he 
uttered the words so well known and oft repeated, 
"The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away; 
blessed be the name of the Lord," (Chap. i. 21), un- 
til resting upon the omniscience of the Great Build 
er of worlds, starry clusters, life and character, the 
triumphant believer is able to say "Though He slay 
me yet will I trust him.'' (Chap, xiii, 15). 

As J. F. Genung has expresesd it, to gather the 
history before us into a sence: "There is a service 
of God which is not work for reward; it is a heart 
loyalty, a hunger after God's presence, which sur- 
vives loss and chastisement, which in spite of con- 
tradictory seeming, cleaves to what is God-like as 
the needle seeks the pole, and which reaches up out 
of the darkness and hardness of this life to the 
light and love beyond. This Book is ours, all men's ; 
the thankful world will always care for it reverently, 
for it will never cease to be young. And as we look 
back toward its origin, we shall be glad to cherish 
this our priceless heritage, not in the narrow human 
copyright due to name or definite date, but as be- 
holding therein a large divine idea, shaping itself 
out of the nebulous confusion of a far distant period 



62 



and orbing into a perfect star in whose unchanging 
light we, with the Patriarchs, may walk." 

To Him, who inspired and enabled my mind and 
heart to study this wonderful Book I devote these 
imperfectly written pages, trusting that the perusal 
of them may be helpful to others, as they have been 
profitable and pleasant to my own soul. 



63 



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